The Trump administration has done the most to disenfranchise voters across the board. One of the many ways they’ve tried – and probably succeeded – at disenfranchising voters is by dismantling the efficacy of the US Postal Service during a pandemic, a moment when many states were leaning into the absentee or “mail-in ballot” model. The Trump administration effectively slowed down the USPS, and it’s more than possible that many mail-in ballots will take days and weeks longer to arrive at their destination. Some ballots may have been sent and postmarked days before Election Day but arrive days AFTER Election Day. And now the Supreme Court has rejected Wisconsin’s request to count ballots received after Election Day. Brett Kavanaugh wrote the majority opinion.
The Supreme Court on Monday night rejected a pandemic-related request from Democrats and civil rights groups to extend the deadline for counting mail-in ballots received after Election Day in the key battleground state of Wisconsin. The vote was 5 to 3, with the Republican-nominated conservatives in the majority and the Democratic-nominated liberals in dissent. The court’s order showed the deep division within the court about the series of pandemic-related election cases that have come to dominate its agenda.
The court’s conservatives say they must defer to state officials on election decisions made in the largely Republican-run states, and the liberal justices say there is a need for dramatic action by judges to ensure the franchise for endangered voters during an unprecedented time.
“On the scales of both constitutional justice and electoral accuracy, protecting the right to vote in a health crisis outweighs conforming to a deadline created in safer days,” liberal Justice Elena Kagan wrote in dissent.
Conservative Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh answered that Kagan’s “green light to federal courts to rewrite dozens of state election laws around the country over the next two weeks seems to be rooted in a belief that federal judges know better than state legislators about how to run elections during a pandemic.”
The decision was a victory for Republicans and President Trump in a state where he narrowly won in 2016 and polls show him behind this year. While Democrats have embraced mail-in voting, Trump has railed against it.
I genuinely believe that in states like Florida, states with a lot of seniors voting by mail, the GOP has taken pains to disenfranchise their own voters too. But they must have data that suggests that they’re doing more to harm Democratic voters or else they wouldn’t be fighting this hard to keep votes from counting. And no, it’s not crazy to illegal to count ballots which were sent and postmarked before Election Day. Jesus. Kavanaugh and the “conservative” justices are just dumbf–k fascists.
Kavanaugh issued what amounts to a veiled threat tonight that the court may need to block states from counting votes after election night. In other words he’s crafted into judicial-speak Trumps demands that the winner has to be known on election night.
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) October 27, 2020
It’s genuinely terrifying that Kavanaugh wrote this passage. He is abetting Trump’s efforts to delegitimize mail ballots that arrive after Election Day, which are counted in at least 18 states and D.C. It is an ideological and partisan attack on the integrity of the election. https://t.co/RyhCfeiNdY
— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) October 27, 2020
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
This is insane. Kavanaugh cheapens the honor he was given.
I remember when he screamed about revenge during his confirmation hearings. Maybe this is what it looks like. I’m sick. I actually broke out into a cold sweat when I was reading about this last night, imagining the SCOTUS throwing the election to Trump.
If that’s the case, then we rise up. Again. the supreme court means nothing if the people are against it. We as a collective people have far more power than we believe. It starts with little fires, too many for them to stamp out, and we burn it all down
Remembering his behavior during his confirmation still gives me a panic attack. The screaming, the threats, all of it. He showed what he was during those hearings: an entitled white man who has never been told “no.”
@SusieQ – Yes, he is Trump’s little entitled frat boy protegee. And now Barrett is Trump’s little submissive handmaid.
This makes me glad to be old! The Supreme Court will gut every privacy right we have gained over the decades. I don’t want to be here with the Trump taint on every judicial decision. Roe was already decided but the concept of stare decisis (already decided) will be ignored and made a state problem! Barrett replacing RBG! An episode of Black Mirror. We are screwed!
Agree with all of you. He disgusts me
He is a horror show. I still want to know who paid off his debts! That still needs to be investigated and he needs to be impeached. (and yeah, that whole boozehound rapist awfulness, too).
Add to that – the Wisconsin voting opinion is filled with errors in fact (yes, Vermont did change its voting laws to send ballots to all registered voters) and logic (the whole IRS deadline bit of nonsense). His clerks need to go back to law school.
No real judge would say “Oh, you gotta count all the votes up by the night of the election!” He’s repeating Trump’s desire to have an exciting reality-show election night result.
Those f@ckers are dismantling America.
That is why I went to the polls, waited in line, and voted the first chance I had. If I can go to the grocery store, and I do, I can go the polls. I’m not leaving it up to chance. Way to many opportunities to reject mail in ballots. If there is ever a reason to risk going out in a pandemic it is to vote. I’m not feeling good. I see a Biden win and the court ruling for trump by throwing out tens of thousands of ballots.
This is what I see as well.
oh no no no no no no please no. I did not know this was a possibility. jesus christ, America, the rest of the world is kind of counting on you guys to return to sanity, don’t do this to us((
@Katie -The majority of us want sanity. It’s the authoritarian Republicans rejecting the will of the people here. This is being done to us, Americans, too.
What about ballots that were mailed and tracked received? I mailed my ballot in weeks ago and got confirmation… could they rule all mail in ballots as invalid… even the ones received before Election Day?????
They’re certainly going to try. Of that, I have no doubt.
the ones showing as received prior to election day do have to be counted (tho some states have changed rules about signatures/whether they have to be witnessed and will probably throw out ballots sent before they changed rules).
In PA, they’re intentionally not permitting any processing of applications (not even opening the envelopes they were delivered in) until when the polls open on election day. I fully expect the GOP to rush a case to SCOTUS to have ballots not counted due to signatures (and, of course, since ballots can’t be processed until election day – voters won’t be notified so they can apply a “cure” to get the vote counted). Most of the people I know here are dropping their ballots off in advance. I heard there were really long lines in Levittown (Bucks County) and in Chester County (I assume that line was in West Chester, not at one of the ballot drop sites)
This is what I did as well. It’s crazy that during the pandemic that there are states out there that are not allowing early voting.
That’s right. I’m going right to the polls. Cause to hell with this fascism.
I did too. My feeling is if people feel it’s important enough to wait in line for an hour or more to go into Trader Joe’s, they can wait in line to vote.
I voted today too. Please, if you haven’t mailed or dropped off an early ballot already, please go vote in the next 24h. Social distancing is going to make the polling places slower on election day. Polling places in our state have extended hours now and are opened through the weekend, that’s an amazing score for democracy! If election day is the only day you can vote, do it then! But if you can vote earlier, do it and send a oude-and-clear message.
“If the American people wish to protect the republic, we must first acknowledge that the court system is broken from the top down. The Supreme Court is overly political, out of touch and outdated, and the federal judiciary fails to provide equal and speedy access to our court system, which is the right of every American. Every time the Supreme Court issues a decision we hold our breaths with fear and anticipation, hoping these lifetime appointees will not destroy the hopes of many; and we cannot deny that the current court system treats Black, Brown, and poor people differently from their wealthy and White counterparts thereby contributing to mass incarceration, disproportionate outcomes and other forms of systemic oppression.”
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/opinion/commentary/story/2020-09-25/supreme-court-reform-ruth-bader-ginsburg
Just like the US government needs restructure, so does the Supreme Court.
Black, brown, and poor? What about women?
Last time I checked, there are an awful lot of black, brown and poor women out there. Show them your support and respect. It will be reciprocated.
Thanks @trashaddict
Canadian here, so I’m full of questions. It seems very shady that the Supreme Court feels entitled to change the rules in the middle of an election (why didn’t this come up before now?). And why is this an issue for the courts to decide and not legislators?
This article from the Atlantic is a must read: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/11/what-if-trump-refuses-concede/616424/
It talks about how its been Trump’s strategy to undermine mail in ballots this whole time so Republicans wouldn’t vote that way and he could confidently throw them all out.
Must be why I voted in person, and if you haven’t voted by mail, there’s still time.
Someone needs to tell him that we already have a Supreme Court decision that says the counting has to be done before the Electoral College votes in December, not on Election Night. Or is he reversing Bush v Gore, which he worked on?
Trump stealing the election and the SC aiding him is too much of a possibility. This country is in the gutter.
This fucker is wrong regarding VT law he cited:
“Other states, such as Vermont, by contrast, have decided not to make changes to their ordinary election rules,” Kavanaugh claimed.
That is not correct, on July 2nd the legislative bill S.348 became law in Vermont. The bill was titled, “An act relating to temporary elections procedures in the year 2020.”
“On Friday, Governor Phil Scott allowed S.348 to become law without his signature. This law grants full authority to the Secretary of State to mail all registered voters a ballot for this year’s General Election in November. This law finally makes it possible for Vermont to move forward with a vote-by-mail system, which is the safest way for citizens to cast their ballot during the pandemic,” VPIRG explained.”
Can the ruling be challenged based on this?
No. Supreme Court decisions are final and cannot be appealed, regardless of the magnitude of error. And his opinion was just a concurring opinion, it wasn’t the actual decision itself.
I hate everything. And especially that alcohol fueled rage monster Kavanaugh.
I REALLY hope people have been paying attention, sending their ballots back early, or dropping them off at a box or election office. This is not an election to delay on, get those votes in as early as possible.
Also, if this sort of nonsense was happening in another country, the USA of the past would be crying foul.
Same and the reason my husband and I will be voting today. I’m in maga country and even though I know it will stay red I’m still voting just like I did during the primaries but I don’t trust anyone or anything around here so I will be voting in person again.
I’ve been listening to Sarah Kendzior “Gaslit Nation” and just bought her book “Hiding in Plain Sight.” She has studied fascist and autocratic regimes and has been warning about Trump and his cronies for a long time. She’s mentioned before the autocrats change the law so that they are no longer breaking it.
This is a really scary time for America. We your neighbours to the North are watching and hoping that Trump loses in an epic landslide.
Canadian here… I have come to the conclusion that any state built on quicksand of slavery is bound to collapse on itself. From SCOTUS to your electoral college – it is all blighted. Hoping for Biden / Harris blue wave in all levels of government this ticket. That can start the reconstruction of SCOTUS (stack it), eliminate your electoral college, then reorganize your Stacked SCOTUS with term limits (who wants to work till they die??) and a bipartisan committee to propose new judges.
But hey, what do I know.
The US stands to lose single payer health care, coverage for pre-existing conditions, legal abortion access, maybe the election results themselves will be thrown out. All within the next three months thanks to Drumpf’s Kangaroo Court.
Stacking the court later, they could do that, but what is lost in the next three months is lost.
I live in Wisconsin. i requested an absentee ballot but didn’t mail it in – I returned it in-person. About 85% of those who requested absentee ballots in the state have been returned. There is going to be a LOT of opening ballots that day/night and it’s going to take a long time to get those recorded.
While I would love election results the same night, if it means we have to wait a day or two so every vote can be counted, I’m all for it. Especially since we know there have been issues with the mail across the country.
Wisconsin also requires an ID to vote. You have to submit proper identification before they will even give you an absentee ballot so all this ranting from Trump and others about how mailed ballots aren’t valid is entirely moot, especially in my state. Once you get your ballot you still need a witness (with a different address than yours) to sign/date/provide their address on the envelope. Any ballots that come in missing this information aren’t counted. In years past Clerks can try and reach out to you beforehand to fix your ballot (but it’s not required they do so). With so many being mailed in early they already said there is no way that will happen this year. So if you or your witness messes it up in any way – your vote won’t count in Wisconsin.
When I handed mine into the person I had them look it over and make 100% sure there were no errors that it would be rejected.
This is terrifying…. This is how president-for-life Trump will happen.
The silver lining is, I don’t think he’s got many years of life left, given his obesity, poor diet, lack of sleep, high stress levels and Adderall addiction.
That might be part 1 of the plan. Part 2 might be for Jared or Ivanka to be president
Aren’t most mail-in ballots from servicemen and women stationed overseas? I know there will probably be more mail-in ballots this year because seniors and others don’t want to stand in line for pre-voting (which in our county is still taking several hours!) or on election day itself.
He’s a terrible justice. John Roberts must be tearing his hair out.
Also Americans living abroad. I am in Canada.
We only vote by mail in WA, have done so for the 14 years I’ve been voting. Though, we technically have drop boxes all over the place that we can drop ours in.
John Roberts helped gut the Voting Rights Act. He’s the reason all this fuckery is going in now. Don’t treat this traitor as a hero.
This is why I went to the polls, surrendered my mail-in ballot, and voted in person.
Biden has to win by a landslide-and-a-half so this cannot go to the courts to decide. The record turnout of early voters gives me a sliver of hope. I voted early yesterday and waited in line for over an hour – which I know is absolutely nothing compared to the stories of others having to wait 8 hours. That’s just voter suppression af. But the people persevering and standing in line for that long gives me some hope.
I, along with most of my friends and family, had originally planned to vote by mail. Why not? It was safe and simple. That all changed. I don’t think I know anyone who is voting by mail now. It’s either waiting in line to vote early or dropping the ballot off at the elections office.
As I recall in Colorado a mail in ballot had to be received by a certain time (7:00pm) on Election Day, no later. If mail in votes met that criteria, the vote should be counted even if it takes a few days to count all the mail in votes. Supreme Court should not have a say in that – Colorado should ensure compliance. Just my thoughts.
This is no longer democracy
I have a friend in Georgia and his entire family (4 people) did not receive their absentee ballots even though they did it in plenty of time and also checked the online system which confirmed everything looked good and they would receive them. They’re a minority which is obvious from their name and I wouldn’t be surprised if this is a new tactic. I have another friend in Atlanta who also did not receive hers despite following the same process. She has a noticeably non-Anglo name as well. I think this is definitely a bigger story.
I am so scared of Election Day. Terrified. I may just hide somewhere and have people let me know whether it is safe to watch the returns. If Trump win I don’t know what I will do. They have gotten away with everything so far. I can’t take it.
All I’m going to say is people were warned in 2016 after they failed to show up in the midterms how dangerous the situation was. Well, now you see what people who see their support slipping will do to maintain power long past when voting allows.
I’ve more or less decided to leave the country in the next few years. I won’t live under Barrett’s court, and I don’t have a child or spouse to hold me back. Unless people show up to fight for this now and in 2022, I don’t know how any of us in minority positions can stay safe here.
I still have my mail in ballot, but will not mail it, but deliver it directly to the drop box at my local Board of Elections tomorrow. In Wisconsin, volunteers are out searching for over 300,000 mail in ballots that haven’t been received yet. So crazy. They are urging people to drop them in drop boxes and not mail them.
The court ruling says that ballots received AFTER Election Day won’t count. So bring your mail in ballots personally and hand-deliver them to a drop box, better yet, to the Board of Elections drop box where you live.
Two things:
1 – I’m not going to pretend that Kavanaugh is unbiased BUT a general rule of the judiciary branch is that they do not and cannot legislate from the bench. Courts will only settle disagreements on interpretation of laws or strike down laws that are unconstitutional. If the Wisconsin state law says ballots have to be received by election day to be counted and there is no ambiguity there, I’m not sure what legal standing the plaintiffs even had to challenge it.
2 – Also, what the actual F is that Kavanaugh opinion? He really cited some law review article from June of this year talking about political instability and a loser crying about a stolen election when mail in ballots take a while to count??? Um, so what? Why is a fascist toddler’s potential tantrums a basis for determining a fair method of dealing with a national election during a pandemic? I’m continually embarrassed at how low we keep sinking.
What I think most people don’t realize is that elections are a really decentralized process in this country. Each state has their own set of laws around it (voter ID requirements, equipment specifications, etc.) and then the actual process of running the election is passed down to the counties. I know Republicans are all for smaller government, but if they’re so concerned about election integrity, it would stand to reason that we shouldn’t have such a piecemeal system in place.
I’m so nervous about this election and find myself continually disheartened by the dismantling of democracy. I won’t even get started on the electoral college…
Kate. Question 2 answers Question 1. This administration has shown lack of respect for the law and fair play, what makes you think the judges appointed under it are not going to behave politically? I have to say, I viewed the local judicial elections in my state with a more critical eye and looked for more than a rubber stamp from the local Bar Associations. They give their endorsements in very generic terms. Amy Barrett didn’t answer regarding her political opinions claiming they weren’t relevant but the only way we’ll know that is from her voting record. In other words, we need a lot more careful scrutiny of the folks coming up the chain. I worry the Republicans have been ahead of the Democrats on this all along. The whole system needs to change.
We should been working harder on reforming the electoral college system after the last election.
I need a CW/TW for that guy’s pasty shouting face